Exhaust gas conditioner



July 5, 1960 K. H. HOOVER 2,943,920

EXHAUST GAS CONDITIONER Filed April 28, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L K k 43 7 5 INVENTOR I 9- L :J H00 We?" BY a gj 2 f ATTORNEY July 5, 1960 K. H. HOOVER EXHAUST GAS CONDITIONER INVENTOR [CH-1 1 b a v e r I ATTORNEY 2 SheetS-Sheet'Z Filed April 28, 1958 United States 2,943,920 Patented July 5, 1960 EXHAUST GAS CONDITIONER Kenneth H. Hoover, P.0. Box 72, Marysvale, Utah Filed Apr. 28, 1958, Ser. No. 731,231

1 Claim. (Cl. 23-284) This invention relates to a device for washing and cleansing exhaust gases of diesel powered engines used underground, as for example in mines, for removing poisonous and obnoxious content of the gases before release of the gases to the atmosphere.

The more common chemicals removed from the exhaust gases include acid radicals of nitrogen and sulfur together with carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

A further object of the invention is to provide an exhaust gas conditioner wherein the exhaust fumes upon initial entry into the casing of the conditioner are first intermittently mixed with water by being caused to pass back and forth through a portion of the casing containing cascading water by means of which carbon particles are removed from the gases and the acid radicals from the gases are entrapped by water vapor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a conditioner wherein the gases with the entrained Water vapor, after having been eifectively scrubbed by passage back and forth through the cascading water, thereafter passes through a drying chamber containing lime rock wherein the acid laden water vapors are neutralized through reaction with the limestone for removal of acids of nitrogen and sulfur present in the gases and for removal of the moisture from the gases prior to a subsequent release of the cleansed gases to the atmosphere, sufiiciently purified so as not to be injurious to health and adequately cleansed to comply with State and Federal laws and requirements as specified in mining codes.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the exhaust gas conditioner;

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view thereof, partly broken away, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 22 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the exhaust gas conditioner, partially broken away, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 2, and

Figures 4 and 5 are enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional views taken substantially along planes as indicated by the lines 4-4 and 5-5, respectively, of Figure 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the exhaust gas conditioner in its entirety is designated generally 7 and includes a casing, designated generally 8, which may be made in various sizes and which is preferably formed of one quarter inch boiler plate. The housing 8 includes a top wall 9, a bottom wall 10, end walls 11 and 12, a front wall 13 and a rear wall 14. The height of the casing 8, between the top wall 9 and bottom 10, is preferably substantially equal to the length of the casing between the end walls 11 and 12, and the thickness of the casing, between the front wall 13 and rear wall 14, is

substantially less than the height and length of the cas mg.

The casing 8 includes a vertical partition 15 extend ing between the front wall 13 and rear wall 14 and which rises from the bottom 10 and terminates beneath but adjacent to the top wall 9. Said partition 15 is disposed adjacent to but spaced from the end wall 12 and com bines therewith to form an exhaust chamber 16 therebetween. The bottom 10 extends from the end wall 11 and terminates at the partition 15 so that the exhaust chamber 16 has an open outlet end 17 at the bottom thereof.

The casing 8 is also provided with a second vertical partition 18 which likewise extends between and is secured to the front wall 13 and rear wall 14 and which extends downwardly from the top Wall 9 and terminates substantially above the bottom 10. The partition 18 is preferably disposed substantially midway between the partition 15 and end wall 11. The partitions 15 and 18 are provided with suitable flanges or projections 19 for supporting an open top mesh wire fabric receptacle 20 in the space between the partitions 15 and 18. The receptacle 20 forms a drying and purifying chamber, and the bottom of said receptacle constitutes the inlet of said chamber. The outlet 21 of the chamber 20, which opens into the upper end of the exhaust chamber 16, is

formed by the gap between the top of the housing 8 and the upper end of the partition 15. The top wall 9, above the chamber 20, is provided with a detachable top section 22 which is retained in an applied position by hook members 23 which slidably engage flanges 24. The receptacle 20, filled with lime rock 25, can be applied to and removed from the housing 8 through the top thereof when the top section 22 is removed, as seen in Figure 2. The lime rock 25 is preferably of greater than two inch size. The rear wall 14 includes a plate 26, disposed behind the receptacle 20, which is removably secured to the remainder of said back wall by fastenings 27. The plate 26 extends from the top of the housing 8 to adjacent the bottom of the receptacle 20 and is removable to provide access to the interior of the housing 8. As seen in Figure 4, one of the flanges 24 extends outwardly from the front wall 13 and the other flange projects outwardly from the plate 26.

The portion of the casing 8 disposed below the receptacle 20 and between the end wall 11 and partition 15 constitutes a reservoir 29 which is adapted to be filled with water as seen at 30 up to a level adjacent to but slightly beneath the foraminous bottom of receptacle 20. The end wall 11 is provided with a filling neck 31 for filling the reservoir 29, the upper portion of the inner end of which filling neck is disposed slightly below the level of the bottom of receptacle 20. The filling neck 31 has an upturned outer end which is normally closed by 'a removable closure 32. The bottom 10 has a drain port 33 through which the reservoir 29 can be drained and cleaned and which is normally closed by a removable closure 34.

The portion of the casing 8 disposed above the reservoir 29 and between the end wall 11 and partition 18 constitutes a scrubbing chamber 35 which is provided with a series of oppositely inclined bafiles 36 and 37. Said scrubbing chamber 35 has three baffies 36 extending downwardly at an incline from the end wall 11, each having at its lower end an upturned lip 38 which is spaced from the partition 18, as seen in Figure 2. The two bafies 37 which extend downwardly at an incline from the partition 18 terminate at their lower ends in upturned lips 38 which are spaced from the end wall 11 and from the upper ends of the baflles 36 disposed therebeneath. The baflles 36 and 37 extend between and have their side edges engaging the rear wall 14 and downwardlyand inwardlyfromthe top .wall9'and adjacent the end wall 11 and terminates above and spaced from an upper portion of the upper baffie36;

' A bypass conduit 40 has a lower inlet end 41 opening into the reservoir 29 through the end wall 11, adjacent the bottom10, and an outlet end 42 which opens into the upper portion of the scrubbing cha-mber35 behind the deflector 39 and above the uppermost bafiile 36, as seen in Figures 2 and 3; A pump 43' is interposed in the bypass conduit 40, as seen in Figure 1, for pumping water from the reservoir '29 and for discharging the water onto the uppermost baflie 36. I

' The top wall 9 has an inlet port 44 which opens into the top central portion of the chamber 35 and to which an outlet end 45 of a conduit leading from an exhaust manifold, not shown, of a diesel engine is connected. w Assuming that exhaust gases are entering the upper end of the scrubbing chamber 35 through the inlet port 44 and that the pump 43 is pumping water from the reservoir 29 through the conduit 40 into the upper end of the chamber 35,*the water entering the chamber from the outlet 42 will be spread by the deflector 39 across the upper side of the top baflie 36 and will flow downwardly therefrom against and then over the lip 38 of the uppermost baflie 36 onto the upper end of the upper baflie 37 and-thence back and forth over the baflies 37 and 36 disposed beneath the upper bafiie 36. The water will be discharged from the lip 38 of the lowermost baffle 36 back into the reservoir 29 adjacent the bottom of the chamber 20. ItJWill thus be seen that while the pump 43 is in operation water will be'cascading ofi the lip 38 of each bafiie onto the upper portion of the bafile disposed therebeneath from-front to rear of the chamber 35, so that all of the exhaust gases must pass through each such cascade before'passing from the scrubbing chamber 35 into the upper portion of the reservoir 29. It will be-obvious that the gases will become entrained by water vapors in passing through the successive cascades, and the water soluble'products of the gases will be separated from the gases to be subsequently discharged into'the body of water 30, and these components, primarily carbon particles, will settle to the bottom of the reservoir 29. The gases entrained in the water vapors after passing over the lip 38 of the bottom bafiie 36 will enter the upper portion of the reservoir 29 above the level of the water 30 and will pass therefrom upwardly through the foraminous receptacle constituting the drying and purifying chamber; Moisture will be extracted from the gases in passing upwardly through the lime rock 25 and this moisture will drain back into the reservoir 29. In addition, theacid radicals contained in the Water vapors through reaction with the lime rock 25 will be neutralized,-so that only the cleansed exhaust fumes will escape through the outlet 21 into the exhaust chamber 16, from which said cleansed fumes will escape to the atmosphere through the housing outlet 17, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2.

The reservoir 29 should be drained, cleaned and refilled about once a day and the lime rock 25 should also be removed and replaced about once each day for-most efiicient operation.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

An exhaust gas conditioner comprising a horizontally elongated casing including a bottom portion defining a reservoir containing water, one end portion of the easing forming a scrubbing chamber disposed above apart of the reservoir, the other end of said casing constituting an exhaust chamber having a part disposed beyond an end of the reservoir, said casing-having'a drying and purifying chamber disposed in the upper partthereof between said scrubbing chamber and another part of the exhaust chamber and having a foraminous bottom opening into the top of a portion of the reservoir and slightly above the level of the water therein, said casing having an inlet for exhaustgases opening into the upper end of the scrubbing chamber, said scrubbing chamber containing a plurality of oppositely directed downwardly inclined superposed bafiles, each of the bafiies,'except the lowermost baflie, having a lower end disposed above and spaced :from the upper end of a bafile disposed immediately therebeneath and spaced from an adjacent wall of the scrubbing chamber, means -for removing water from the reservoir and for discharging the water into the scrubbing chamber above the upper end of the uppermost baflle, said bafiies causing the water and exhaust gases to pass by an indirect route downwardly through the scrubbing chamber and so that the water cascades from the lower ends ofthe balfles to create walls of water through which the exhaust gases must pass, and said lower ends of the 'baflles having upturned lips for spreading and deflecting the water passing thereover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hirs June 11, 1957 an"... had-Lu. 

